Does anyone know of any open meets in Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin (or even Missouri, really) in the next 4 weeks that would have a good field for a 3:55 1500 runner? Maybe some meet where D-3 or NAIA guys are trying to get qualifying times - I am graduated, but it seems those are the types of fields I would be looking at at this point.
Wisconsin Open is next Saturday. They should have plenty of guys from WIAC schools going for sub-4 1500s.
That could be a good fit - thanks for the tip!
North Central in Naperville has a couple of last chance meets coming up the second and third weekends in May. They will be loaded with D3 guys looking to get into nationals and you should have plenty of competition.
runthecountry wrote:
Does anyone know of any open meets in Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin (or even Missouri, really) in the next 4 weeks that would have a good field for a 3:55 1500 runner? Maybe some meet where D-3 or NAIA guys are trying to get qualifying times - I am graduated, but it seems those are the types of fields I would be looking at at this point.
Sub 3:50 training.
If you need coaching, drop your e-mail.
It's already been mentioned, but North Central College in Naperville, IL, is where you want to look. They are friendly to unattached runners and there will be a lot of guys around 3:55.
May 10-11 (this is the bigger of the two meets):
http://northcentralcardinals.com/documents/2012/4/24/DrK.pdf
May 17-18:
http://northcentralcardinals.com/documents/2012/4/24/Gregoryinfo2012.pdf
I will probably look to enter that first meet at North Central; it looks like it will fit into my schedule pretty well.
One question, though - it says in the information that preference will be given to college athletes as far as lanes, sections, and flights - hopefully that would not refer to the 1500 so much? I want to be in the sort of race where 3:50 will win, and 4:00 would be dead last; and if I was stuck in a slower heat, that would be a shame.
And in response to the question about coaching - I have coached myself since college. I was over 4 minutes for the 1500 all throughout college, and came into this season with 3 main goals:
1. Stay healthy (pretty good so far)
2. Break 4 minutes for 1500 (have done it once)
3. Run under 3:55 (not yet, but in the right race I could see 3:52-3:54)
At this point my goal is 3:45 for next year, and 3:40 for the year following. However, I can't get ahead of myself too much - with each year past college I realize that staying injury free (and of course, consistent training) is most important element. If I do have a coach other than myself, he would need to match my ambition for my ultimate running goals, and at the same time be patient enough to see the results come over years rather than weeks or months.
Just an update, and a thanks to those who suggested meets! Ran at both Wisconsin and North Central; ran 4:01 and 3:55. Both of them were pretty much exactly what I was looking for, and I just didn't race very well at Wisconsin compared to North Central.